Thursday 11 July 2024

Following the Labour Party’s landslide victory in last week’s General Election, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has begun the work of building his new government and taking steps on immigration and asylum policy.

In this article, we will profile the new Home Office ministers, look at immigration policy moves taken in the first week since the election and outline what could be expected in the King’s Speech and State Opening of Parliament on 17 July 2024.

New Home Office ministers

Secretary of State for the Home Department – The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP

As expected, Yvette Cooper was appointed as the new Secretary of State for the Home Department on 5 July 2024. Having served as the Shadow Home Secretary since 2021 and previously from 2011 to 2015, Cooper has been the primary Labour Party point person for immigration issues for a number of years. She also served as the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee from 2016 to 2021. Cooper has been an MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (previously Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) since 1997.

As the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Yvette Cooper has overall responsibility for all Home Office business, including overarching responsibility for the departmental portfolio and oversight of the ministerial team, the National Security Council (NSC), public appointments and oversight of the Security Service.

Minister of State for Security – Dan Jarvis MBE MP

Dan Jarvis MBE was appointed Minister of State for Security at the Home Office on 6 July 2024. He is the current Labour MP for Barnsley North and has been an MP since 2011.

Jarvis served as a commissioned officer of the British Army from 1997 to 2011.

Minister of State – Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP

Dame Diana Johnson DBE was appointed Minister of State in the Home Office on Monday 8 July. She has served as the MP for Kingston upon Hull North since 2005.

A barrister by profession, Johnson served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools in the Brown government and as the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2021 to 2024.

Minister of State – Dame Angela Eagle DBE MP

Dame Angela Eagle DBE was appointed Minister of State at the Home Office on Monday 8 July 2024. She has served as the MP for Wallasey since 1992.

Before entering public service, Angela Eagle worked for the Confederation of British Industry and the Confederation of Health Service Employees. Eagle served as the Minister of State for Pensions and Ageing Society under the Brown government from 2009 to 2010 and in various Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State roles under the Blair government.

Minister of State – Rt Hon Sir David Hanson

Sir David Hanson was appointed Minister of State at the Home Office on 9 July 2024. The King has signified his intention to confer on Hanson a Life Peerage in the House of Lords.

Previously, Hanson served as the MP for Delyn from 1992 to 2019. He held ministerial appointments in the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Wales Office, Northern Ireland Office and Whips’ Office in the Brown and Blair governments.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State – Seema Malhotra MP

Seema Malhotra was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office on 9 July 2024. She has served as the MP for Feltham and Heston since 2011.

Malhotra is a former management consultant who worked for Accenture and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. In Parliament, she served as the Shadow Minister for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls and the Shadow Minister for Employment.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State – Jess Phillips MP

Jess Phillips was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office on 9 July 2024. She has served as an MP for Birmingham Yardley since 2015.

Phillips is a frequent media commentator and vocal advocate for women’s issues, having served as the Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding from 2020 to 2023. Before entering Parliament, Jess Phillips worked for the Women’s Aid Federation of England.

Scrapping of the Rwanda scheme

At his first press conference after forming a government, the Prime Minister stated that ‘the Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started.’ Throughout the General Election campaign, Keir Starmer repeated his promise to abolish the scheme and criticised the previous government for its approach to irregular migration and asylum and the steep £270 million price tag on the Migration and Economic Development Partnership between the UK and Rwanda.

In response to the cancellation of the scheme, the Rwandan government in Kigali issued the following statement:

‘Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK Government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement, as provided for under the terms of the Treaty passed by both our Parliaments.

This partnership was initiated by the Government of the UK in order to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK — a problem of the UK, not Rwanda.

Rwanda has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances, and remains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country.’

A Rwandan government spokesperson has indicated that the UK should not expect a refund of funds spent on developing the scheme. Nevertheless, Yvette Cooper has committed to an audit of the Rwanda scheme to see what money can be recouped.

Establishment of the Border Security Command

In her first few days as Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper laid out plans to establish the Border Security Command (BSC) – the new government’s alternative to the Rwanda scheme intended to strengthen border security and target smuggling gangs. The Home Office is rapidly recruiting for a leader of the BSC, with ‘the new recruit expected to take up their post in the coming weeks.’

Cooper has noted that the BSC would mark ‘a major step change’ in combatting organised immigration crime. The government intends to draw on ‘substantial resource to work across Europe and beyond to disrupt trafficking networks and to coordinate with prosecutors in Europe to deliver justice.’ This approach differs from that of the previous government in that it seeks to combat small boat journeys across the English Channel at the source rather than criminalise individual asylum seekers and migrants.

The King’s Speech

The formal beginning of the new Parliament will take place on Wednesday July 17 2024, with the State Opening of Parliament and King’s Speech. During this speech, written by Government officials, the King will outline the new government’s plans for the year and identify proposed legislation and policy changes for the parliamentary session.

Should the King’s Speech include any landmark proposals for the immigration and asylum sector, expected or otherwise, we shall cover these developments accordingly.

Get in touch

To learn more about upcoming changes to UK immigration law, please refer to our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.